Chapter 113: Deposed Emperor Becomes a Slave (4)
4
The new emperor ascended the throne and everything was new. There were too many things to deal with.
The Ministry of Rites asked whether the autumn hunting would be held as scheduled this year, and whether they should follow the rules and mourn for the deposed emperor and not go hunting for three years.
Xiao Cheng'an was unwilling, of course: "The deposed emperor has committed many evil deeds and is unworthy of being an emperor. I have issued an order not to allow him to be buried in the imperial mausoleum. If future generations want to accuse me of not caring about the ties of blood, let them say so."
"He is not worthy of being an emperor. After his death, everything will remain the same. I will not mourn for him, and neither will the people. The autumn hunt will be held as scheduled, but it does not need to be too extravagant. It should be treated as a training exercise, mainly training in riding and archery."
"yes."
Afterwards, Xiao Cheng'an talked about setting up a Buddhist temple in the palace and placing the bones of the victims killed by the deposed emperor in the palace.
Officials from the Ministry of Rites felt that this was inappropriate, firstly because there had never been a precedent for this, and secondly because it was not a glorious thing to do.
But Xiao Chengan had made up his mind, and no one could sway him.
"There is no precedent for this because there has never been such a crazy thing before. When I was a prince, I didn't notice this matter, which was my dereliction of duty. Now that I am the emperor, I am doing these things just to make up for it."
"I have no intention of hiding this matter. What is there to be ashamed of? I am not afraid of what others will say. If it is wrong, it is wrong. Why should I be afraid? In the future, the history books will record it truthfully."
"I have discussed this matter with the teacher, and the teacher has no objection."
He spoke sincerely, and even had tears in his eyes. The court officials were all moved and bowed to him one after another: "Your Majesty is benevolent."
Xiao Cheng'an nodded: "Let the Ministry of Rites handle this matter. Pick a good place in the palace that is close to the Changqiu Palace. I will go there to pay tribute from time to time."
"yes."
There were so many things to do that it was almost noon before Eunuch Cheng announced the end of the court session.
Zhu Qingchen held up his official uniform, bowed, and left the hall with the three ministers of state.
Xiao Cheng'an sat on the dragon throne, lifted the crown tassels, and looked at Zhu Qingchen.
Zhu Qingchen raised his head, smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
Your Majesty did a great job today. You were very tactful in your actions and behaved like an emperor.
After receiving the teacher's affirmation, Xiao Cheng'an finally felt relieved.
*
On the other side, Zhu Qingchen and three other ministers of state were walking on the palace road out of the palace.
Old Censor Chen stroked his beard, looking very pleased with himself: "Your Majesty is intelligent and cares about the people. He is quite a wise ruler. I will have no regrets even if I die."
Zhu Qingchen said: "Your Majesty is still young and still needs the assistance of the old censor. It is too early for you to say 'die' now."
Old Censor Chen laughed out loud: "Yes, yes, I made a mistake."
The two men were chatting gossip, the Duke of Zhenguo and the Duke of Weiguo looked at each other, and suddenly stepped forward, holding Zhu Qingchen on the left and right.
Zhu Qingchen was puzzled: "Eh? What happened?"
The Duke of Zhenguo said in a sour tone: "Young Master, although you are now a tutor, don't forget that you still have a student."
Zhu Qingchen blinked and reacted: "Oh, Yun Yang, what's wrong with Yun Yang? Are you okay recently?"
"What else can I do?" said the Duke of Zhenguo. "You have been staying in the palace for a while, and Yun Yang has not seen his teacher. He has been at home doing nothing all day. I specifically asked you to tell the young master that he has read all the military books you asked him to read, and he will not be lazy anymore. When will you go to check his homework?"
Zhu Qingchen begged for mercy: "I was negligent, I'm sorry for him. Five days later, five days later, can you let him come to my house, okay?"
"Okay, I'll definitely deliver the message."
Zhu Qingchen turned to look at General Wei again: "What about you? What do you want?"
"What else can I do?" General Wei's tone was exactly the same as that of the Duke of Zhenguo. "Didn't the young master ask my boy to write an article a while ago? He has finished it, but I don't know when he can come to see the young master. When do you think you can be free?"
It turns out it was for the same thing.
Zhu Qingchen thought for a moment and said, "Then... also in five days? Come to my house in five days and I'll take a look at his article."
"Okay, whatever time the young master says, it's time. These youngsters just like to stay with the young master, and they can't be stopped."
Zhu Qingchen smiled embarrassedly.
Just at this time, they arrived outside the palace gate.
The carriages of several important officials were already waiting outside. When they saw the lord from the mansion coming out, they hurried forward to greet him.
Zhu Qingchen sent them to the carriage one by one and said goodbye to them with a smile.
After the elders had gone back in their carriages, Zhu Qingchen boarded his own carriage.
He ordered, "Go to the posthouse."
"yes."
Zhu Qingchen slumped in the carriage, leaning on the soft pillow, shaking his sleeves and fanning himself.
I stood in the hall for the whole morning and felt very tired.
I didn't expect that being a civil servant is such a physical job.
The system also waved the small screen to fan him: "Your Excellency, thank you for your hard work."
Zhu Qingchen raised his head and looked at it expectantly: "Can you reward me by watching an episode of cartoon?"
"The cartoon is no longer available. You have watched all the dozens of episodes I downloaded."
"Woo——" Zhu Qingchen said angrily, "But I just want to watch it."
"Then think about it. I'm not stopping you from thinking about it."
“…”
Zhu Qingchen slumped in his seat, pinching his fingers.
"Then I'll go find the villain's red system later. Maybe it can play cartoons for me."
Blue System:? !!!
"What? No! You are not allowed to go look for it!"
Zhu Qingchen said aggrievedly: "But you don't even play cartoons for me."
"You, you, you..." The system was shocked, "You abandoned me just for a cartoon!"
"I didn't abandon you, I just wanted to watch cartoons. Don't worry, I'll just watch cartoons over there, and it's still your job to coax him to sleep. I'll come back to sleep at night."
"This is not called abandonment! You scumbag minister!"
Although the system knew that Zhu Qingchen said this on purpose, it couldn't help but get angry.
It was so angry that it danced on Zhu Qingchen's head: "I'm so mad, you damned child! I'll beat you to death!"
Zhu Qingchen looked up at it, looking aggrieved: "But I really want to watch cartoons."
The system paused when it saw his tearful eyes and pitiful expression.
Oops, it's starting to soften.
The system finally failed to hold its ground: "Okay, okay, I'll secretly download it for you, but you can only watch one episode before going to bed at night."
Zhu Qingchen blinked and said, "Two episodes, please."
The system hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, okay, two episodes."
Zhu Qingchen immediately smiled and held the small ball of light in both hands: "Great, Tongtong, I like you so much."
"You're really annoying." The system tried to be serious. "You never asked about the mission. You just asked me to watch cartoons or to coax you to sleep. I'm almost degenerated into a babysitting system."
Zhu Qingchen crossed his legs proudly: "This further proves that I am both worry-free and capable."
He suddenly remembered something: "Oh, I forgot to ask you, does Yuwen Zan have to be a proton? What will happen if he doesn't become a proton? Will it have any impact? Will the plot automatically correct itself?"
The system was shocked: "You only remembered to ask me now? Huh? You were ready to reject the Regent, and you only remembered to ask me now?"
Zhu Qingchen was weak, pitiful and helpless: "I forgot before."
"You remembered to ask for the emperor's opinion, and then for the ministers' opinions, but only remembered to ask for my opinion last?"
"I was wrong."
The system is really going to be pissed off by him.
Zhu Qingchen held it in the palm of his hand and looked at it carefully.
In the end, the system was defeated by his sparkling eyes.
"It shouldn't be a problem."
"Um?"
"The villain proposed to make Yuwen Zan a hostage, and all the courtiers of the Xia Kingdom unanimously decided to refuse. There is no problem with the logic, and you did not interfere. It is just a little different. The plot judgment will not be so strict."
"Oh." Zhu Qingchen nodded thoughtfully.
"As long as you don't kill the main character, the hunting ground plot can continue, it doesn't matter."
"I see." Zhu Qingchen clenched his fist, "If I don't kill him, it shouldn't matter if I cripple him, right?"
The system choked: "Okay, stop fiddling with your little meaty hands. They have no deterrent effect at all."
“…”
*
The carriage rumbled towards the posthouse.
Suddenly, there was a noise coming from the front.
"I was brought back by His Highness himself. How could you treat me like this?"
"You can follow whichever prince you want, but don't act arrogantly in front of us."
"How can you say that, Your Highness? I just asked you to run some errands for me and buy some things. How can you..."
"We are soldiers of the Regent, not your Highness's men. The Regent has ordered us to guard here and not to leave our post without permission. If you need to run an errand, please go find your Highness."
“You…you guys…”
This is Chen Xun's voice.
Zhu Qingchen lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked outside.
Chen Xun was seen standing in front of the inn, his face flushed red because he was humiliated. He stomped his feet and kept saying "you" for a long time, unable to utter a word.
The two soldiers guarding the door stood upright, holding their weapons, as if he were air and didn't even look at him.
Just at this moment, Chen Xun also saw Zhu Qingchen from afar. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly saluted him, retreated to the corner quietly, and dared not speak again.
Of course he was afraid of Zhu Qingchen.
He was the one who could judge the situation the best and knew that Zhu Qingchen was not someone to be trifled with, so when he saw him coming, he immediately kept his tail between his legs and behaved himself.
At this time, the two soldiers at the door also saw the carriage approaching and hurried forward: "Master Zhu!"
They were Yuwen Shu's soldiers, so they naturally recognized Zhu Qingchen and respected him very much.
One soldier helped hold the carriage, while another soldier came to the window and saluted.
Zhu Qingchen lifted the curtain and casually asked the soldier, "Is your regent here?"
The soldier said, "In reply to Master Zhu, the Regent went out of the city to do some work last night."
Zhu Qingchen was a little surprised: "You haven't come back yet?"
"Not yet." The soldier said, "If Master Zhu wants to see the Regent, I will send someone to invite him immediately."
Zhu Qingchen thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then please send someone to invite him back. I'll go in and wait for him."
"yes."
Chen Xun was hiding in the corner and rolled his eyes when he saw this scene.
These two soldiers were cold to him just now, but now they are so attentive to Zhu Qingchen. Isn’t it because Zhu Qingchen became an official?
When he follows Yuwen Zan back to Northern Zhou and becomes an official, he will see if they still dare to look down on others.
Zhu Qingchen jumped off the carriage and his eyes fell on Chen Xun, who quickly lowered his head and said, "Greetings, Master Zhu."
Zhu Qingchen glanced at him and saw that he was still wearing the clothes of a eunuch in the palace, looking even worse than when he was in the palace.
Chen Xun knew he was looking at him, so he didn't dare to stand up and could only bow his head.
He regretted very much why he didn't pack up before going out.
But think about it, he actually has no room to clean up.
Last night, after the palace banquet, he followed Yuwen Zan back to the inn.
He originally thought that he had reached the top overnight and would enjoy wealth and glory from then on.
But who would have thought that as soon as he followed Yuwen Zan back to the room and closed the door, he was scolded by Yuwen Zan.
Yuwen Zan hated him for not telling the truth, which caused him to lose face at the palace banquet and forced him to apologize to Zhu Qingchen.
For the sake of her own wealth and glory, Chen Xun could only hold back her tears and coax him, saying that she was just too scared and didn't mean it.
After finally coaxing Yuwen Zan into submission, he wanted to ask Yuwen Zan for an identity.
He was a servant, a close minister, and a male favorite. Since Yuwen Zan brought him back, he had to give him an explanation, right?
As a result, he cried until all his tears dried up, and Yuwen Zan just let him stay with a few servants and ignored him.
This morning, he went to help Yuwen Zan get up and wash up, and gave him some explicit and implicit hints. But Yuwen Zan just kept him hanging, and went out after he finished washing up, ignoring him completely.
Chen Xun suddenly felt a little regretful.
Did he bet on the wrong horse?
He originally thought that Zhu Qingchen would stop in front of him and make some sarcastic remarks to him.
But Zhu Qingchen just got off the carriage, clasped his hands, looked calm, and said in a calm tone: "Since you have already left the palace, it is inconvenient for you to wear the clothes of the eunuchs in the palace."
There was no trace of sarcasm in Zhu Qingchen's tone, as if he was just a eunuch he didn't know.
"Yes." Chen Xun responded, but he was not convinced in his heart.
If Yuwen Zan had given him new clothes, how could he still be wearing the eunuch's clothes in the palace?
"To avoid misunderstanding, I will ask Eunuch Cheng to send someone to take your clothes away later."
After all, they are clothes from the palace. If he wears them, he will go around cheating people and ruin Xiao Chengan's reputation. What will that do?
Zhu Qingchen said this as he walked towards the inn.
Since Chen Xun is already Yuwen Zan's man, he chose his own path. As he is the attendant of the prince of the enemy country, he cannot say much and just do his job impartially.
Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard on the street.
Zhu Qingchen seemed to sense something, took two steps back and looked back.
I saw Yuwen Shu riding a horse, carrying a small bamboo basket in his hand, coming from the other side of the street.
Yuwen Shu was still dressed like a grassland man, with big curly hair, but no wolf skin. He wore casual clothes on one shoulder with a circular pattern on the sleeve.
The basket he was holding was a product of the Central Plains. It was made of bamboo and covered with a small piece of blue cloth.
It looks a bit mismatched.
Zhu Qingchen smiled and waved at him.
Yuwen Shu also saw him and smiled at him.
In two breaths, Yuwen Shu rode his horse to the gate of the posthouse. He dismounted with a basket on his shoulder and threw the reins to the soldier, but his eyes were always fixed on Zhu Qingchen.
"Master Zhu is here."
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen nodded, "I have something important to discuss with the Regent, so I came here."
Yuwen Shu stepped forward and said, "Master Zhu, have you had lunch yet? Come to my room?" "No, you can go anywhere..."
Before Zhu Qingchen finished speaking, Chen Xun beside him suddenly rolled his eyes and shouted, "The Regent is polite."
Yuwen Shu thought there was an assassin and reacted quickly, protecting Zhu Qingchen behind him: "Someone come!"
He turned his head and saw that there was another person here.
I was just busy looking at Zhu Qingqing.
Chen Xun smoothed his messy hair and bowed, "Your Highness, Your Excellency."
Yuwen Shu was confused. He was talking to Zhu Qingqing. Who was this person? Why did he suddenly say something? It scared him!
Yuwen Shu glanced at him and remembered.
Oh, this is Chen Xun, the eunuch who stole the emperor's clothes and was brought here by Yuwen Zan.
Yuwen Shu turned around and said to the two soldiers, "Isn't this the male lover that Yuwen Zan brought back? Why is he running around everywhere? Why don't you send him back quickly?"
Chen Xun wanted to explain: "Regent, I am not..."
"Take him away! Take him away!" Yuwen Shu was afraid that he would come closer, and even more afraid that he would get close to Zhu Qingqing, so while shouting for help, he protected Zhu Qingchen and hid him in the inn.
Help!
Only Chen Xun was left, standing there angrily.
Two soldiers held him on both sides and sent him back to the room.
The Regent had already stamped his seal that he was Yuwen Zan's male favorite, so a male favorite naturally could not run around with unkempt hair and a dirty appearance, as this would damage the reputation of their Northern Zhou Dynasty.
*
In the inn, Yuwen Shu held a basket in one hand and put his arm around Zhu Qingchen's shoulders with the other, holding him in his arms and walking down the corridor.
Zhu Qingchen couldn't keep up with his pace and almost flew up: "Yuwen Shu, what are you doing? Slow down!"
Yuwen Shu hugged him and slowed down his pace a little.
After returning to the room, Yuwen Shu looked back, confirmed that Chen Xun had not followed him, and then closed the door.
Zhu Qingchen looked confused and touched his hair: "What are you doing?"
Yuwen Shu turned around and said sternly, "Chen Xun has evil intentions. Master Zhu should stay away from him."
"I know." Zhu Qingchen still looked puzzled, "I'm not stupid."
"You are too stupid, you know nothing!" Yuwen Shu said seriously, "Chen Xun is always trying to find a high place to stay. Whenever he meets someone powerful, he will cling to him."
"I know that too." Zhu Qingchen nodded and pointed at Yuwen Shu, "He seemed to have taken a fancy to..."
"He's taken a fancy to you!" Yuwen Shu was furious. "Teacher Zhu is handsome, innocent, powerful, and talented. It's too easy for him to take notice of you."
Zhu Qingchen pointed at Yuwen Shu's hand and hesitated: "But the Regent seems to have his eyes on..."
Yuwen Shu understood clearly: "I knew it would be like this."
Treasures are always easy to be coveted.
Zhu Qingchen scratched his head. It seemed that the person he had his eyes on was Yuwen Shu?
And how can he be both innocent and powerful at the same time?
Yuwen Shu seemed to be an illiterate who couldn't use idioms.
"Master Zhu, please be careful to protect yourself when you go out."
"Okay." Zhu Qingchen curled the corners of his mouth and nodded.
Yuwen Shu was so confident that he himself began to doubt himself.
Could it be that Chen Xun is really...
That shouldn’t be the case, right?
Yuwen Shu was filled with murderous intent.
Damn Chen Xun, he didn’t care what tricks he played on Yuwen Zan, but he dared to provoke Zhu Qingqing!
Unforgivable!
Yuwen Shu looked around, saw the sword hanging on the wall, and took a step forward.
Zhu Qingchen felt something was wrong and quickly stopped him: "Okay, okay, he's fine. Even if you kill him now, there will be Zhang Xun and Wang Xun to take his place. They'll be the same. They might not be as easy to deal with as this one."
Zhu Qingchen pulled him to sit down in front of the desk and poured him a cup of tea: "Don't be angry, don't be angry, if you get angry and get sick, no one can help you."
Yuwen Shu drank a cup of tea to calm down his anger.
Zhu Qingchen saw the bamboo basket in his hand and changed the subject: "What is this? Your soldiers said you left the city last night. What were you doing? Why did you come back only now?"
Yuwen Shu placed the bamboo basket on the table and uncovered the small blue cloth, revealing the tribute incense and candles inside: "I went to the temple outside the city to burn incense last night and donated some incense money by the way."
Of course, it was not the royal temple of the deposed emperor, but a temple outside the city that was often visited by the common people and was very popular.
Zhu Qingchen was a little surprised: "You stayed in the temple for a whole night? You still believe this?"
"I go there occasionally to pray for peace and good fortune. Sincerity is the key to success." Yuwen Shu flipped through the basket and took out the snacks and fruits he had offered. "Master Zhu, have you had lunch yet? Eat some of the offerings first. I'll ask them to prepare lunch."
"Well, thanks. Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet, let's eat together."
"Hmm." Zhu Qingchen picked up a piece of chestnut cake and was about to take a bite.
Suddenly, Yuwen Shu grabbed his wrist, and Zhu Qingchen was puzzled: "What's wrong?"
Yuwen Shu held the chestnut cake in his hand and turned it over. "This is a cake that has been blessed by the temple. It must be eaten in order. There are four characters on the cake: 'Peace, Joy and Happiness'. Eat 'Peace' first, then 'An', and finally 'Happiness' and 'Happiness'."
Zhu Qingchen looked down and saw that it was indeed true.
These four words were printed on the cake with rouge.
Zhu Qingchen was puzzled: "Who stipulated this? I didn't have this requirement when I ate these things before."
Yuwen Shu remained calm: "I set the rules."
Zhu Qingchen put the chestnut cake back: "It's too troublesome, I'd rather not eat it..."
"No." Yuwen Shu stuffed the cake back into his hand, "Eat!"
He was too fierce. Zhu Qingchen picked up the chestnut cake weakly and started to chew it from the word "Ping".
Yuwen Shu pushed the door open and went out, asked someone to prepare food and bring it over, then closed the door behind him.
Zhu Qingchen munched on a chestnut cake and said, "I came to you this time because of the proton issue."
Yuwen Shu sat back next to him and looked at him seriously: "Yeah."
"At court today, the courtiers have discussed that neither country will send hostages for this peace talk."
"Alright." Yuwen Shu nodded, "I'm not comfortable letting Yuwen Zan go to the palace as a hostage."
"Then I'll have to trouble the Regent to keep an eye on him."
"Don't worry."
Unlike what the court officials imagined, that the Grand Tutor and the Regent of the enemy country were engaged in a heated debate and negotiating a peace treaty, this was how they discussed the peace treaty.
The two chatted casually, and Zhu Qingchen took the time to make a request, and Yuwen Shu said, "Don't worry."
And then it ends.
Yuwen Shu asked again: "Is there any problem with the plot? Will it be forced to be revised?"
"Probably not." Zhu Qingchen thought for a while, "I guess the most important plot in this world is 'saving people in the hunting ground'. As long as the final result can lead to this plot, there will be no problem. In a few days, there will be an autumn hunt. You can take Yuwen Zan with you to complete this plot."
"good."
Zhu Qingchen was chewing on a chestnut cake when he lowered his head and suddenly realized that he had accidentally skipped the word "peace" and ate "joy" instead. Afraid that Yuwen Shu would find out, he quickly covered it with his hand and chewed it carefully.
He never knew that the villain was so superstitious.
Yuwen Shu said: "It's normal for grassland people to be more superstitious."
Zhu Qingchen was startled and quickly covered his mouth. He seemed to have spoken out what was in his heart.
Zhu Qingchen whispered, "Not all grassland people are as superstitious as you."
Li Yue is not like him.
He used to be with Li Yue in the northwest. Every time Li Yue went on an expedition, he would hide in his room and tell fortunes with tortoise shells and coins. Li Yue would laugh at him for doing nothing and would rather use the coins to buy two sesame cakes, then accompany him to roast a rabbit and eat the rabbit meat between the sesame cakes.
Zhu Qingchen was so excited that he drooled, so Li Yue took him out through the window to buy sesame cakes and catch rabbits.
Li Yue didn't believe this at all.
The system said: "Congratulations, scumbag, you finally discovered the difference between them and will not mistake them for each other."
Zhu Qingchen was eating chestnut cake, turned his head and looked at Yuwen Shu thoughtfully.
He suddenly wondered what Yuwen Shu was asking for in the temple?
Ask him to beg for the whole night. !
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